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Sunday, May 1, 2011

May Vs. Might: You Might Be Surprised

Mindy Lawrence is contributing to The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor today. In fact, she has promised to contribute a monthly post. So subscribe so you don't miss a single one.

WORD HIPPIE: MAY vs. MIGHT

By Mindy Phillips Lawrence

Many people confuse the usage of MAY and MIGHT for several good reasons. Their distinction is often subtle because they show a difference in MOOD.

MAY indicates a greater likelihood of something occurring than does MIGHT. For instance “I MAY go to the festival” shows a greater likelihood of attendance than does “I MIGHT go to the festival.”

A few exceptions to this general rule occur:

1. You should not use MAY in a negative hypothetical situation as it could indicate to the reader that the person does not have permission to do something. ”I may not go to the play” could be read as not having permission to go to the play. You always use MIGHT in this case.

2. To complicate matters, MIGHT is the past tense of MAY. If the event is in the past, MIGHT is always used. “My friend MIGHT have gone to the play last night.”

MAY is also used to ask permission, as in, "May I go to the play?" Using MIGHT here would show less hope for success in the request.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's first novel, This Is the Place, won eight awards. Her second book, Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered, creative nonfiction, won three. Her chapbook of poetry Tracings, was named to the Compulsive Reader's Ten Best Reads list and was given the Military Writers' Society of America's Silver Award of Excellence. An instructor for UCLA Extension's world-renown Writers' Program, her book The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't is recommended reading for her classes, and was named USA Book News' "Best Professional Book 2004." It is also an Irwin Award winner. Her second book in the How To Do It Frugally series is The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success is also a USA Book News award-winner as well as the winner of the Reader View's Literary Award in the publishing category. She is the recipient of both the California Legislature's Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award and the Glendale American Business Women's Association's Woman of the Year award. Her community's Character and Ethics Committee honored her for promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly's list of 14 "San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen." She is a popular speaker and actor. Her website is www.HowToDoItFrugally.com.

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